INDUSTRY 101 EVENT SERIES

It seems like everyone has written a screenplay. Or at least started one. Or has thought about starting one. But it's not as easy as opening up a text document and writing, "Scene 1: It is a bright and sunny day outside." 

There are a handful of generally agreed-upon conventions and “rules” that screenwriters tend to abide by, but these might not always be clear to writers first starting out. What do "INT" and "EXT" mean? What is an "act?" What is a slug line and why does everyone argue about whether or not you're supposed to bold them? Aren’t rules meant to be broken? 

This panel will demystify the very basics of screenwriting, starting with the formatting of a screenplay and the best way to get started writing your own.

Humanitas's Industry 101 event series is made possible with support from our series sponsor Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Julia Camara

Julia Camara is a Brazilian writer/filmmaker. Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, she freelanced for years as a Portuguese translator for film and television subtitling. She has written and directed several award-winning short films. Her feature directorial debut In Transit, an experimental drama shot mostly in one day and with improvised dialogue, won Best Experimental Film at four different festivals. Camara also wrote the sci-fi feature Area Q (starring Isaiah Washington), the road movie Open Road (starring Andy Garcia, Juliette Lewis and Camilla Belle), and the award winning sci-fi found footage feature Occupants aka Alterverse (starring Star Trek: Voyager's Robert Picardo). Occupants aka Alterverse has screened at 150 festivals all over the world and has won over 100 awards including a Telly Award for writing.

Camara teaches Screenwriting at UCLA Extension Writers' Program. She developed two brand-new courses since she started teaching; Inclusive Screenwriting, a course designed for the development of stories around underrepresented communities, and Writing a Low Budget Feature Film. In the Fall of 2020, Camara self-published the eBook That's What She Wrote, a collection of articles and interviews about screenwriting and filmmaking. Camara works as an advisor for Sundance Co//ab. Some of her courses include: Crafting Your Sci-Fi Feature, Revising Your Feature Screenplay and Writing Your First Act. Some of Camara's writing can be seen on WeScreenplay blog, Luz Collective, Student Filmmaker Magazine, and Ms. In The Biz archives. Camara was a staff writer for season 2 of the narrative sci-fi podcast Crypto-Z. Her latest project, Stronghold, an indie thriller she wrote and directed, is in post-production.

Diane Drake

Diane Drake is an accomplished screenwriter, writing instructor, story consultant, author and international speaker. Her first produced original script, Only You, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Marisa Tomei, sold for one million dollars, while her second produced script, What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt, is the second highest grossing rom/com of all time. Both films have also been remade in China featuring major Chinese stars, and WWW was again remade as What Men Want with Taraji P. Henson. Prior to becoming a screenwriter, Diane served as VP of Creative Affairs for Academy Award-winning director/producer Sydney Pollack. She is a member of the Writer’s Guild of America, and has written her debut book on screenwriting, ”GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT”. She teaches screenwriting through the UCLA Extension Writers Program, has served as a judge for numerous screenwriting contests including the WGA Awards, Austin Film Festival, and the Humanitas Prize, and serves as a mentor at the Rocaberti Writers Retreats in France and Italy.

Koji Steven Sakai

Writer/Producer Koji Steven Sakai’s film and television projects have played on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Paramount+, Roku, and Tubi. He has worked with a variety of talented and award-winning actors and filmmakers, including Cuba Gooding Jr., James Shigeta, Michael Jai White, Mickey Rourke, Quentin Lee, Randall Park, RZA, Terrence Howard, and Wilson Cruz. He has written nine feature films and produced eight. He has also produced a one-hour comedy special that premiered on Netflix, and a comedy series that premiered on Hulu and Peacock. Koji recently completed writing for a Japanese television series slated for Disney+. In addition to his screenplays, Koji has written books and graphic novels, produces, writes, and co-hosts The Unofficial Official Story Podcast, and teaches screenwriting at UCLA Extension and New York Film Academy.

Chris L. Terry

Chris L. Terry is author of the novels Black Card and Zero Fade, and co-editor of the forthcoming literary anthology Black Punk Now. A former PEN America Writer in Residence, with a Creative Writing MFA from Columbia College Chicago, Terry now lives in Los Angeles and teaches novel-writing courses at UCLA Extension.

Photo Credit: Jacob Boll.